Conduit-fitting for electrical conduits.



G, H. SGHWEDLER. GONDUIT FITTING FOR. ELECTRICAL GONDUITS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1912. 1,066,329.

Patented Ju1y1, 1913.

therewith.

UNITED sri-urns PTENT onnicn.

GUSTAVE H. SCHWEDJER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

CONDUIT-FITTING FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUITS.

Specication of Letters Patent.l

Patented July 1, 1.913.

Application filed August 5, 1912. Serial No. 713,314.

l. 17o-all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, GUs'rAvE'l-l. ScHwED- a citizen of the United States, residing risas City, in` the county of Jackson aan' vState of Missouri, have vinvented a new useful Conduit-Fitting for Electrical @enduit-s, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to conduit.. fittings Ifor electrical. conduits by means of which- V,electrical conduits may be connected with lateral branches and permanently concealed and through which a fish-Wire may be accu' rately passed to engage and pull a feed-wirev through the fitting and conduits connected The objects of my invention are, first, to

provide a simple, cheap .and improved fitting for concealed conduit systems; second, to: :provi-de means within the fitting for directing and guiding the fish-wire: therethrough; third, tolprovide ineans within the 'tting for housing the ends of conduits connected therewith, to assure an unobstructed passage therethrough for the fish-wire and to?` prevent injury to the insulation upon feed-wires when pulled through the fitting,

and fourth, to effect a saving in materials, time and expense for laying conduit systems. I attain 'these' obJects by the mea-ns 'and devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which, l Figure 1. is a sectional view of the fitting on the line I-I in Fig. et, Fig. 2. a sectional view of the fitting with conduit attached illustrating the passage of `a fish-wire through the fitting, Fig. 3. a vertical view of the partition within the fitting on. the

.line II-HI in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4. an end view of the fitting on the line IV-IV'in Fig. l, and Fig. 5. a sectional view of thel partition on the l-ine V--V, in Fig. 1. v

vSimilar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the n drawing.

In the drawing the numeral 1 indicates a conduit fitting in section having a main huby 2 carried by a short neck 8 and duplex branches 4: and outwardly curved from said neck 3 and carrying the hubs 6 and 7 respectively. The fitting is preferably formed of cast iron.

The main hub 2 and the hubs 6 and 7 carried by the branches 4 and 5 are each provided vcrith internal screw-threads 8 to rcceive the screw ends of conduits connected with the tting and, at vthe inner end of said internal screw-threads 8, an annular depression or groove 9' 1s formed 1n the inner surface of each of said hubs, for the purpose of to terminate a-t the inner end of the hub 2V for the specific purpose of providing a butting shoulder 10 against which the end of a conduit connected with the main hub 2`may abut and be housed to prevent damage to 'the insulation upon a feed-wire by Contact with the ends of the conduit when the feedwire is pulled through the fitting, and also to provide an unobstructed passage for a fish-wire through the fitting when advanced therethrough to engage a feed-wire. The said branches 4 and 5 are formed to have uniforminner diameters less than the inner diameters ofthe hubs 6 and 7 carried by the 'branches and the inner walls of the branches are formed to terminate at the inner end of A said hubs for the 'purpose of providing the butting shoulder 11 upon the branch 4 and the butting shoulder 12 upon the branch 5 against which the ends of the conduits connected with the hubs 6 and 7 may abut and be housed to prevent damage to the insulationu-pon the feed-wire by contact with the ends-of the conduits when the feed-wire is pulled throughI the fitti-ng, and to providean unobstructed passage for the fish-wire when advanced through the fitting to engage a feed-wire. The said butting shoulder 10 up-onthe neck 3 and 11 and 12 upon the. branches 4 and 5 are respectively rounded upwardly and inwardly for the of providing a smooth bearing surface 13 adapted for slidable movements thereon of a fish-wire or a feedwire when passed or pulled through the fitting.

Itis obvious that a hitting adapted for concealment'with-in the Walls-of buildings or in the earth and connecting maineonduits with lateral branches, and throughwhich a fish-wire may be expeditiously passed to engage a feed-wire must effect a considerabie saving. in inateriahtime and extenso when installing a conduit system, and fo-r this purpose, and for the further purpose of providing means within t-he fitting for the expeditious and accurate passage therethrough of a fish-wire when fishing for a feed-wire, I have formed integral withl the inner Surfaces of the neck 3 and the branches 4 and 5, at the intersection of the curved walls of said branches, a novel partition 14 which is formed by the outwardly curved walls of the branches continued inwardly to a juncture and from the lower extremity of said partition outwardly receding wire guiding side portions 20 are extended in vertical' line downwardly within the neck 3 approximately to the shoulder 10, as shown in Fig.

3, and provided with opposing faces 15,

which faces are curved inwardly and transversely as at 17, and the portion of said faces located above the extended wire guiding side portions-20 is divided centrally by,- a longitudinal wire guiding depression or slot 18 to provide inward sloping side surfaces on said partition leading to the wire guiding depression or slot 18, which said depression or slot is provided withy sloping sides t0 effect a smoothjuncture thereof with the sloping surfaces on the face 15. The inward side slopes and curvatures of the faces 15 are provided for the purpose of deflecting a fish-wire traversing the fitting. and impinging thereon to the wire guiding depression or slot 18 which is located, formed and adapted to engage and guide the wire through the bend in the passage in a path' offering the least resistance to the passage therethrough, the said depression or slot describing the arc of a circle having the greatest radius, effects a long bend of the wire thereby reducing the friction incident to the bending and sliding process to negotiate the passage.

The side portions 20 act as a guiding and bearing surface for the fish-wire downwardly to a point near the shoulder 10 and without obstructing or reducing the passages. The faces of said side portions are provided with inwardly sloping surfaces adapted for deflecting the fish-wire inwardly and downwardly .to avoid feed-wires which may have been drawn to occupy the walls of the passage. The border of said side portions being practically a continuation of the sides of the slot 18 outwardly and downwardly extended.

The novel formation of the partition 14 prevents the passage of a fish-wire from one branch of` the fitting to the opposite branch and at the same time gives direction to, and guides the fish-wire with great accuracy through the fitting to the conduit below.

Assuming that the fitting described is concealed in the jwalls of a building and a con- 'duit 21 is connected with the main hub 2, a

conduit 22 1s connected with the hub 6 carried bythe branch 4, a conduit 23 is connected with the hub 7 carried by the branch 5, and all of said conduits are abutting and are housed by the shoulders 10, 11 and 12, respectively.

A sh-wire 24, consisting of a steel or other suitable wire of proper dimension and length is introduced into the conduit 23 at some opening above the fitting as at 23X, and advanced downwardly by a pushing pressure applied thereto sliding upon the inner surfaces of the conduit 23, and the inner surfaces of the branch -5 describing the curvature of the wall of the branch 5 moves to the face 15 of the partition 14, and, being prevented thereby from entering the opposite branch 4 slides downwardly and inwardly upon the sloping sides of said faces 15 to the wire guiding depression or slot 18 at the bottom of said slopes. When the advanced end ofthe fish-wire slides upon the inward slopes of the face 15 presented to said branch 5 the slopes of the said face 15 deflect the Wire downwardlyl and inwardly 'to the Wire guiding depression or slot 18 which is generally followed downwardly, being a path of least resistance for the lfish-wire, and sliding in the crotch formed by the side portions 2,0 or upon said side portions and guided thereby continues centrally downwardly to the opening in the conduit 21, as at 21", where the feed-wire is attached to the fishwire and pulled through the fitting to the point where the fish-wire was introduced. When the feed-wire, not shown, is attached to the {ish-Wire the same is pulled through the conduits 21 and 23 connected with the fitting sliding upon the inner surfaces thereof and upon the bearings 13 upon the butting shoulders 10, 11 and 12 under which shoulders the conduits are housed, and upon the side portions 20` upon the partition 14. The method is identically the same when fishing for a feed-wire through the opposite branch.

The fitting described is adapted for connecting lateral conduits with main conduits concealed in earth or inthe walls of buildings, and effects a saving in conduit sections and junction-boxes and other opening devices necessary in conduit systems having lateral branches. Moreover, the interior arrangement and form of the fitting permits ing therein of a feed-wire Without injury to the insulation thereon, and independent of ny external opening providing access to the tting.

While 1 show and describe the duplex branches of the fitting outwardly extended from the neck 3 in curved lines, it is obvious that the'said branches may be extended upon any pnactical line or one branch extended in vertical line with the said neck-` and the Vof the expeditious and unobstructed passage of the fish-wire therethrough, and' the 'pull- `I-Iaving described my invention, Iclaim:

1. In a T-fitting lfor elect-rical conduits, a dividing and wire guiding partition formed by the outwardly i branches `continued .inwardly to a juncture provided integrallyl in the lower extremity with downwardly extending .receding wire guiding portions, the faces of said partition provided with inward sloping surfaces, and a longitudinal wire guiding depression or slot centrallyin said faces `dividing said sloping surfaces and i. 'communicating with said side portions.

` 2. In a T-itting dividing and guiding partition formed b'y the outwardly curved walls of the branches continued inwardly-to a juncture provided curved walls of `the for electricalV conduits, a i

integrally in thel lower extremity with downwardlyl extending receding wire guid ing side portions, the opposing faces of said partitions divided into inwardly extending side slopes communicating with inward slopes on said side portions.

3. A T-fitting for electrical conduitscon-A sisting of the members t 5, the partition 14, the side portionsO, extended from the lower extremity ofsaid partition 14, the faces 15provided with inward sloping surfaces, and the wire main member 3, the branch guiding depression or slot 18, centrally din viding the faces 15 and communicating with the bordersof said side portions 20.

` GUSTAVE H. l,SCHNEDLEIL Witnesses:

Mrs. J. H. NULF, IVA YOUNG. 

